[TH Spangler]

Need 2 more, 5 games to get em Go Flames!

[Liberty22]

Taking a deeper look at the attendance:

Through four games, we’re averaging 536 more per game than we did last year for the entire season.

My guess is once the final two home games are added in, we’re probably going to be sitting somewhere around 16k. That includes a couple weather games and two games after Thanksgiving, all working against the total. Last season was 16,571 average for the full season.

Comparing homecoming to past years:

Homecoming had 1224 more last year than this year.

If you look at homecoming attendance while Gill was here (and take 2000 off the numbers during Barber's years because of inflation), you get an average of 17,132.

We were 561 under that average today. So not terribly different. But not a growth that you’d hope to see given we have a legit path to a bowl game.

So we're left with three explanations:

1) Alumni chose to come back to FBS games this year instead of coming to the FCS homecoming game.

2) People are less interested in the program.

3) The 2PM start time is a bad time.

My guess is it's more of #1 and #3 than it is #2. We've got our base of 17,000 but we aren't going to grow to the higher numbers many were expecting overnight.

#1 was definitely why my wife and I stayed home. We live 6 hours away, both alum and have season tickets. We only make the drive for ODU, UNT, Troy and NMSU. We’ve known since the schedule was released we’re weren’t coming to the FCS games. If we lived closer maybe buy doubtful lol.

[thepostman]

I'm also concerned with the appearance of deception with the AGG "illness" but I have a feeling most wont want to entertain that because it doesn't fit well with the narrative that TG is a good dude.

.

Please. Expound on this “Deception “. I’m all ears how a football coach should diagnose an illness. I’m fascinated to hear how gamesmanship isn’t a part of modern day athletics. Pray tell, how can a non medical professional tell if a test is a false positive?

I'm probably allowing my bias to effect my view on this. I should probably tone that down.

[ballcoach15]

I think 2:00 start time is best.

[tyndal23]

Relieved to be complaining about a win ( and cover ) vs making excuses for a loss or a Moral Victory from playing Troy close vs a win last week Back to back October home wins - 4-3 with a BYE to regroup to win 3 out of 5. UMASS is a big game and they will be a matchup issue for our 2nd and 3rd level of D ( just like today ).

[Purple Haize]

I'm also concerned with the appearance of deception with the AGG "illness" but I have a feeling most wont want to entertain that because it doesn't fit well with the narrative that TG is a good dude.

.

Please. Expound on this “Deception “. I’m all ears how a football coach should diagnose an illness. I’m fascinated to hear how gamesmanship isn’t a part of modern day athletics. Pray tell, how can a non medical professional tell if a test is a false positive?

I'm probably allowing my bias to effect my view on this. I should probably tone that down.

Go sit in the corner!

[Liberty22]

With today’s win, Liberty officially beat Coastal when it comes to Inaugural FBS season record. Coastal finished its first year in the belt at 3-9.

[jbock13]

I think I got sunburnt again on the east side

[Just John]

Taking a deeper look at the attendance:

Through four games, we’re averaging 536 more per game than we did last year for the entire season.

My guess is once the final two home games are added in, we’re probably going to be sitting somewhere around 16k. That includes a couple weather games and two games after Thanksgiving, all working against the total. Last season was 16,571 average for the full season.

Comparing homecoming to past years:

Homecoming had 1224 more last year than this year.

If you look at homecoming attendance while Gill was here (and take 2000 off the numbers during Barber's years because of inflation), you get an average of 17,132.

We were 561 under that average today. So not terribly different. But not a growth that you’d hope to see given we have a legit path to a bowl game.

So we're left with three explanations:

1) Alumni chose to come back to FBS games this year instead of coming to the FCS homecoming game.

2) People are less interested in the program.

3) The 2PM start time is a bad time.

My guess is it's more of #1 and #3 than it is #2. We've got our base of 17,000 but we aren't going to grow to the higher numbers many were expecting overnight.

There was a significant decrease in the Flames Club this year vs. past Homecomings. Usually it's pretty packed out. Initially I thought maybe there was a big alumni BBQ or something that kept the crowd down but obviously not.

It also didn't seem that the school marketed HC as much this year as in the past. I usually get a number of phone calls and emails to register but only got one call this year.

[jimflamesfan]

This week and last week I had people with me that hadn't been to LU games before. I also got to play with the band alumni group for pregame. And we had a tailgate meal. I'd say there were about 100 hanging out in that group.
I THINK THE BIGGEST PROBLEM FOR ATTENDANCE IS MAKING THE ENTIRE BAPTIST SIDE RESERVED. I think many people like the quietness of the baptist side. They don't want to sit on the student side. But they don't want to commit to a certain number of tickets.

[jimflamesfan]

As far as the game, we got the Win!
We actually won a close game.
At the beginning of the season, i predicted we would lose 1 FCS game, and I thought this would be the one. But they got the win. the punting also improved. So I'll tale it.

[Jonathan Carone]

Please. Expound on this “Deception “. I’m all ears how a football coach should diagnose an illness. I’m fascinated to hear how gamesmanship isn’t a part of modern day athletics. Pray tell, how can a non medical professional tell if a test is a false positive?

I'll explain exactly why I questioned it:

1) Gill has used misinformation (or gamesmanship to you) to cover up suspensions before.

2) Mono is usually pretty terrible and misdiagnosis isn't super common, especially when you have access to doctors like a Division I football program has.

3) Someone I know/trust sent me a message after it started leaking out AGG was playing today saying that last week was more of an eligibility issue than mono.

4) I have my biases against Gill based on things I've been told about how he conducts business. (Side note: this isn't implying he's a terrible person, is cheating, or anything like that so let's not even go there.)

When you combine those four things, it made sense to me that we were covering something else up by saying it was mono last week.

After hearing AGG's postgame, I have no reason not to believe him.

I made conclusions based on wrong information and bias and ended up being wrong. I'm not above admitting that.

I do, however, think a discussion could be had on gamesmanship and Christian ethics. That's a different topic for a different day though.

[jack_sparrow81]

2:00 was the best time for homecoming. You still have other athletic events going on during the day and I think there was a play this evening. They should bring back the carnival next year. $30 a ticket for GA is still tough to swallow. It makes sense to get the season ticket package if your going to multiple games, but a lot of the people that come for HC live too far to invest in season tickets.

[BigRed1]

The Administrations biggest worry should be the lack of attendance

This was one of my biggest takeaways.

The question for me is this:

Did alumni who only come back once a year choose another game to come to other than homecoming?

Homecoming was the worst opponent of the four teams we’ve played all year at home. It could be that the 5000 or so alumni that otherwise would’ve been there chose those other games. That’s the positive view of it.

The negative view is that alumni aren’t excited about the program and feel like not even homecoming is worth coming back to.

The truth is probably somewhere in the middle.

In terms of students, we knew fewer student came to the earlier games so their drop was to be expected to a point. From reading some things on Facebook, it looks like a lot of the students aren’t excited by the program. Add that to one of Damien’s tweets today (Overheard in the press box: "I would gladly write a paper and have to study rather than attend a football game as a fan.") and you get the impression the students are beginning to check out too.

I know you don’t make decisions based on fans showing up or not, but our fan base should be really excited where we’re at. The fact that it looks like more are indifferent than excited is not a good sign.

I can’t speak for other alumni but as for myself, I vowed to never go to another Turner Gill coached team two years ago. I decided that I wouldn’t go to the expense of paying to watch such a poorly coached team.

[BJWilliams]

Im planning on bringing my oldest son to the NMSU game the weekend of Thanksgiving (barring me getting a holiday job for the 5th consecutive Black Weekend). He hasn't been to a football game since he was a newborn. I want him to be able to meet Sparky, experience the Kids atea and learn how to do the first down chant and chant GO LU during the fight song.

[flameshaw]

The 2:00 game time was started because the Flames Club and LU admin published a survey asking the season ticket holders (mostly), when they would prefer afternoon games to start.
I for one, travel 3 hours each way and much prefer the 2:00 starting time.
IMHO the reason that some are not supporting the program is because we haven't improved the product in last several years, we play very inconsistent football and the coaching staff is incapable of bringing any excitement or spirit to the program.
Winning and a charismatic HC/staff can fix the problem. In addition our game atmosphere is sorely lacking. The band is horrible and the same music is played over the sound system, at all of the games. We also need some kind of unique tradition before the game like a lot of schools, ie. Auburn's eagle, Colorado's buffalo, Oklahoma's wagon, Ohio State's dotting the I, Carolina's pacifier, etc.

[flameshaw]

Another thing we might consider is to employ "thumping" during the game. It looks like we have decided to use the no tackling rule during the games too.

[ballcoach15]

Flameshaw, good post above.

I was told that our defense suffered today because we were missing Rusty Tillman at linebacker.

[FlamesHighontheTide]

Just want to point out that Buck is on track to flirt with 4,000 passing yards for the season! This would be without going to a bowl game. If we go to a bowl game then he easily eclipses 4,000 for the season. Frankie Hickson has really stepped up his play since Kentory went down with his injury. Frankie is averaging 104 ypg in his 5 starts. I always thought he could produce in this way when we recruited him due to his incredible high school career. You can tell he has grown as a player from last year to this year and from the ODU game to this past one. His patience and explosion paired with his north and south running has really made our running game a strength. Especially when you pair him with our battering ram aka Peyton Pickett. I swear that kid always falls forward when he gets tackled.

[rtb72]

I was really disappointed with attendance, but I had two friends come with me for the first time, and they were in awe of the stadium, campus, facilities, and overall gameday experience. I guess for me and my family, we travel 2+ hours every gameday and would be hard pressed to miss one. I don't know how you can't have excitement about your school's athletic program(s) (especially a signature sport like football). What will it take for us to get more students and locals in the seats?

For game takeaways: The punting was MUCH better. I was glad to see Probert take a few PATs. Hickson had a great game. AGG never ceases to amaze me; kid will be playing on Sundays. On both sides of the ball we had our struggles, but D has got to figure something out. Our tackling stinks!

[cruzan_flame13]

The 2:00 game time was started because the Flames Club and LU admin published a survey asking the season ticket holders (mostly), when they would prefer afternoon games to start.
I for one, travel 3 hours each way and much prefer the 2:00 starting time.
IMHO the reason that some are not supporting the program is because we haven't improved the product in last several years, we play very inconsistent football and the coaching staff is incapable of bringing any excitement or spirit to the program.
Winning and a charismatic HC/staff can fix the problem. In addition our game atmosphere is sorely lacking. The band is horrible and the same music is played over the sound system, at all of the games. We also need some kind of unique tradition before the game like a lot of schools, ie. Auburn's eagle, Colorado's buffalo, Oklahoma's wagon, Ohio State's dotting the I, Carolina's pacifier, etc.

These are needs for sure.

[Neo]

Can’t really explain the alumni situation.

The student situation ought to be kind of obvious to people who have ever been to a game.

Liberty students aren’t football fans (or probably any other sport). Sure, there are some actual fans. But it is plain to see that the vast majority of them are there to dance around like morons for a camera and frankly just act like weirdos. The game is just an opportunity to show off how weird they are. Never seen anything like it.

[Liberty22]

Can’t really explain the alumni situation.

The student situation ought to be kind of obvious to people who have ever been to a game.

Liberty students aren’t football fans (or probably any other sport). Sure, there are some actual fans. But it is plain to see that the vast majority of them are there to dance around like morons for a camera and frankly just act like weirdos. The game is just an opportunity to show off how weird they are. Never seen anything like it.

And thank God for that. Do you know how many universities wished they had the student support we have?

[BJWilliams]

BJ, were you at Homecoming?

I ended up calling off my trip last minute...lack of childcare and even so, youngest was sick

[cruzan_flame13]

I know this is not related to the subject, but I just watched the final minutes of the ODU vs. WKU game. What was really interesting was with no time on the clock, ODU made 2 penalties granting WKU two attempted field goals (both short)in which were unsuccessful. The 2nd field goal attempt made ODU receive the ball and run it all the way back to the 12 yard line.(WKU made a penalty during the process). In the end, ODU attempted their own field goal and won the game. That is something you don’t see everyday, especially with no time on the clock.